Martial Arts Ain't That Big of a Deal-Chapter 250: A New Realm (1)

The function of Eightfold Frozen Hell was beyond simple—it was outright rudimentary. Within its domain, all cold qi was brought under complete control.

The ability itself remained unchanged from when it was merely a pseudo-domain.

However, in this fully perfected state, there were no longer any weaknesses like before. Standing at the very center of the domain, Seo-jun gazed at Baek Yoon.

"Go ahead. Struggle all you want."

Iceblood Divine Art was, in itself, a divine technique. The cold qi it exuded, gathered from all of the Northern Sea, was enough to make even Transcendent Realm warriors shiver.

But Baek Yoon had also mastered Iceblood Divine Art. His brows furrowed as a crimson frost seeped from his palm.

"Neungwol, nothing has changed. Stick to the plan."

"Of course."

Baek Yoon slammed his crimson frost-coated hand into the ground.

Crack—!

The frozen snow shattered, and the entire snowy plain was dyed red.

Blood Ice.

The snowfield responded to Baek Yoon's will. From the blood-stained ground, countless ice pillars surged skyward.

Rumble—!

These pillars were unlike ordinary ice. The ice that Baek Yoon wielded shared the very properties of blood.

The liquid-like pillars stretched out like whips, striking toward Seo-jun in a relentless onslaught.

"He fused Iceblood Divine Art with Blood Arts?"

Seo-jun spread his right hand wide.

Crackle—!

The surrounding cold qi swirled violently around him, instantly halting the descending pillars.

Neungwol had yet to make a move, but suddenly, Baek Yoon lunged at Seo-jun.

"You're called Baek Seo-jun, aren't you?"

Charging through the frozen blood pillars, Baek Yoon thrust his hands forward.

Slash—!

Seo-jun countered with both palms. Their hands met mid-air, locking together in a crushing grip. Baek Yoon clenched his fists around Seo-jun’s hands, his eyes cold.

"Step aside while you still can. Give me Ice Crystal and White Snow Incense, and I won’t concern myself with what you do after that."

"There’s only one thing I want."

"And that is?"

"Your suffering."

At Seo-jun’s utterly indifferent response, Baek Yoon abandoned any attempt at persuasion. Any respect he had for a fellow male practitioner of Iceblood Divine Art was now completely discarded.

"So be it."

Before leaving Ice Palace, Baek Yoon had held the position of an Elder.

To fully master Iceblood Divine Art as a man, he had endured countless trials and experiments. As a result, there was no one more knowledgeable about Iceblood Divine Art than him.

Ultimately, Iceblood Divine Art was a technique created to cultivate Iceblood Qi.

If a practitioner of Iceblood Divine Art actively suppressed their internal energy, then any opponent who had trained in the same art would find themselves significantly weakened.

Alone, this tactic was useless in a one-on-one fight.

But if another Transcendent Realm warrior was present?

Kwaaaaaaaaaah—!

The massive surge of internal energy from Baek Yoon clashed with Seo-jun’s, freezing the air between them.

Baek Yoon was certain—he had successfully neutralized him.

While he restricted Seo-jun’s qi, Neungwol made his move.

Fwoosh—!

A crescent moonlight aura coiled around Neungwol’s spear.

Moonlight Spear.

Like the piercing trajectory of moonlight, Neungwol’s spear shot toward Seo-jun’s head.

Swish—!

The spear closed in rapidly. From Seo-jun’s perspective, it was like a single dot exploding into a massive shape.

It was a deadly situation.

But Seo-jun remained utterly indifferent.

"Foolish."

Swoosh—!

Seo-jun suddenly began draining a massive amount of Baek Yoon’s qi through their connected palms.

Northern Darkness Divine Art.

Baek Yoon’s eyes widened in shock.

"Wha—?!"

Seo-jun did not let go of Baek Yoon’s hand. Instead, within the confines of Eightfold Frozen Hell, he condensed dozens of massive frozen spheres.

Crack—!

An absurd amount of qi gathered into blinding white orbs.

Ice Crystals.

Replicating the legendary sacred artifact of Ice Palace, Seo-jun fired dozens of frozen spheres straight toward Neungwol.

Fwooooosh—!!

Startled, Neungwol swiftly adjusted his spear trajectory.

Pivoting on his left foot, he spun, planting his right foot as a new axis.

Whoosh—!

His spear twisted, spinning rapidly to deflect the incoming projectiles.

But blocking all of them would take time.

Meanwhile, Seo-jun tightened his grip on Baek Yoon’s hand, smirking.

"What will you do now?"

Even at that very moment, Seo-jun was draining Baek Yoon’s qi.

Clicking his tongue, Baek Yoon suddenly pulled back.

Rip—!

His wrist was severed, torn off like a lizard shedding its tail.

However, Baek Yoon’s cultivated state wasn’t true Transcendent Realm, but Blood Human Realm.

Squelch—!

The severed wrist instantly regenerated.

Seo-jun sneered.

"You look pathetic."

"...It changes nothing."

Baek Yoon glanced toward Neungwol, who had finished deflecting the attacks and was already rushing forward.

Against someone who had mastered Northern Darkness Divine Art, a direct confrontation was too risky for Baek Yoon.

Under normal circumstances, he might have resisted the draining effect to some extent, but for some reason, Seo-jun’s technique ignored his resistance entirely, devouring his energy.

Baek Yoon immediately made his decision.

"Neungwol will pin him down while I land the killing blow."

Crackle—!

Baek Yoon gathered Blood Ice Divine Qi in his hands.

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Meanwhile, Neungwol’s spear lunged toward Seo-jun.

Boom—!

Seo-jun struck upward, sending Neungwol’s spear skyward.

Neungwol didn’t resist the motion. Instead, he retracted the spear blade, bringing the opposite end up toward Seo-jun’s chin.

Swish—!

Seo-jun casually took a step back. The spear’s butt barely grazed his nose.

Gathering the Northern Sea’s cold qi into his palm, a torrential vortex formed, swallowing the entire battlefield.

Then, Seo-jun launched the condensed vortex straight at Neungwol.

Kwoooooooosh—!

Staring at the monstrous storm of frost, Neungwol's eyes darkened.

"And he's not even the strongest in his faction?"

His mastery over qi was terrifying.

If their Lord was even stronger than this...

Neungwol clenched his teeth.

Boom—!

He stomped his left foot down hard, channeling the force through his waist and arms, amplifying his spear’s rotation to cleave through the storm.

Slash—!

A path was carved between them.

At that moment, Baek Yoon extended both hands forward.

Blood Ice Orb.

Hummm—!

A white sphere and a red sphere spun around a single focal point—the ultimate fusion of ice and blood arts.

It shot forward at blinding speed.

Swoosh—!

Seeing Seo-jun remain motionless, Baek Yoon’s eyes gleamed.

"I got him."

Even the head of Divine Sword Sect had fallen to this attack.

If Seo-jun underestimated it...

Fwoosh—!

"What...?"

The Blood Ice Orb split apart, reverting into two separate spheres, orbiting Seo-jun’s palm.

Baek Yoon’s eyes widened in sheer disbelief.

Seo-jun gazed down at him with a cold smirk.

"Throwing power together doesn’t make it stronger."

Whoom—

The stolen Blood Ice Qi now danced obediently around Seo-jun.

Even Neungwol, witnessing the scene, looked on in shock.

"...Monster."

The Blood Ice Orb was not something that could be so easily countered.

Even for a Transcendent Realm warrior, facing it head-on made it nearly impossible to defend against properly.

Yet Seo-jun hadn't merely blocked it—he had effortlessly dismantled it.

That meant his control over qi was beyond conventional limits.

Ignoring Neungwol’s reaction, Seo-jun extended his hand. At his fingertips, the white and red orbs spun and merged into one.

Unlike Baek Yoon’s Blood Ice Orb, this fusion was complete—no longer two distinct entities.

The resulting sphere took on a delicate pink hue, its surface swirling with a strange, mesmerizing glow.

Seo-jun’s lips curled.

"Huh. Not a bad color."

Swoosh—!

The Blood Ice Orb shot toward Baek Yoon.

Still shaken by how easily his own technique had been overpowered, Baek Yoon hesitated for a split second—too long.

Neungwol stepped in.

"Moonlight-Dyed World."

The space glowed silver as moonlight engulfed the battlefield.

Neungwol’s spear thrust forward, piercing through the Blood Ice Orb.

BOOM—!

The explosive burst of cold qi instantly froze Neungwol’s hair.

"Hmph...!"

With a sharp swipe, he flicked his spear to shake off the encroaching frost, then turned to face Seo-jun.

Seo-jun, in turn, observed him with an intrigued expression.

"Transcendent Realm?"

He was different from Baek Yoon.

Baek Yoon had reached Blood Human Realm, a level achieved through mastery of Blood Arts.

But Neungwol was a true Transcendent Realm warrior.

And yet... that wasn’t all.

Seo-jun’s eyes narrowed.

He had both Transcendent Realm and Blood Human Realm?

The sight of Neungwol's spear and the lunar glow it emitted reminded Seo-jun of someone.

A warrior from the Black Lotus Union had a similar style...

"Neung Pyeong-ho, was it?"

The direct combat commander of the Black Lotus Union, killed by Seo-jun’s father-in-law.

By the time Seo-jun had arrived, the man was already a corpse.

But through intelligence provided by Jegal Tong, he had learned about his martial arts.

"Just curious—did you play a role in the extermination of the Gold # Nоvеlight # Sect?"

Neungwol only smirked in response.

Was that a yes? Or something else?

"Well, I can just ask you directly."

Seo-jun channeled his power.

Even if Neungwol unleashed his domain, it wouldn’t change a thing.

Seo-jun could always reveal another card of his own.

Crack—!

From his temples, a pair of horns emerged.

His pupils slit horizontally, reflecting the two warriors of the Myeolshinhwe before him.

A transcendent entity, a domain woven from pure energy and will.

The balance of body, mind, and spirit shifted into something demonic.

"Mahābala Padma."

Fwoooosh—!

The previously white world was now burning black.

The black flames that consumed the snowy plains were the very essence of yin energy.

Even a Transcendent Realm warrior couldn’t emerge unscathed if they were touched by it.

As for Baek Yoon, who had mastered Iceblood Divine Art, he might last longer... but that was all.

"If you have any cards left to play, bring them out now."

Mahābala Padma was one of the Eightfold Frozen Hell techniques.

Also known as Great Red Lotus Hell, it symbolized the way bodies froze and shattered, blooming like red lotus flowers.

The beings trapped within it would suffer for 25 eons and 6,000 kalpas before atoning for their sins.

But Seo-jun had no intention of ever letting them go.

"Best to give it your all while you still can."

Responding to Seo-jun’s will, the cold qi in the air compressed into an enormous mass.

Fwoooosh—!

The black flames swirled violently, solidifying into a massive meteor-like structure.

Pulled downward by gravity and qi, it began to descend toward the battlefield.

Rumble—!

Neungwol’s eyes shook.

"That... cannot be blocked head-on."

"Baek Yoon!"

Realizing the impending disaster, Neungwol immediately turned to flee.

"Damn it."

Baek Yoon followed suit without hesitation.

KWA-BOOOOOOM—!

The monstrous meteor crashed down, uprooting the frozen tundra.

Rumble—!

The entire landscape overturned, revealing portions of the Northern Sea’s landmass that had been buried for centuries.

Hovering in the air, Seo-jun silently observed the blackened earth below.

Dark flames flickered across the exposed ground, scattering not smoke, but a thick mist of cold qi into the air.

For most warriors, this was a land of certain death.

Yet—

Fwoooosh—!

The swirling mist parted, revealing Baek Yoon and Neungwol, both retreating at full speed.

Baek Yoon’s left arm was partially devoured by the black cold flames, its flesh ruptured and charred red.

Watching their quickly retreating figures, Seo-jun clicked his tongue.

"Tch. Some people just keep making the wrong choices."

No matter what they tried, there was no escape from this domain.

If they were hoping to exhaust his strength, they were idiots.

"Should I just let them struggle?"

Giving them a brief moment of false hope was effortless.

Seo-jun wanted to watch them struggle in vain, only to realize the utter futility of their resistance.

He wanted to see the exact moment they lost all hope.

Seo-jun began to walk forward—slowly.